you could also say that this is an addendum blog. i posted in haste last time. the new drug that i was so excited about, aromasin( exemestane) 25mg , turns out not to be so great after all. i was so hoping to have less muscle/bone pain with it- my oncologist assured me that 50% of women who were having the muscle/bone pain with the arimidex( anastrazole) did not have that side effect with the aromasin. i should have fully researched the drug before getting all worked up about it. turns out that the side effects profile ( i researched a professional drug information site) on the aromasin is worse than the side effects profile of the anastrazole.
even though my oncologist told me about the 50% prize, he must have read about it in some professional journal?, it still lists bone/muscle pain as a side effect. that was acceptable. but what was NOT acceptable were two side effects listed as "very common".the article that i read listed side effects into three groups: very common, common, and rare. the two "very common" side effects with the aromasin, which were NOT listed in the anastrozole profile, were leucopenia ( which means diminished white blood cells, which means your immune system is compromised) and depression with insomnia. these are deal breakers for me! when i was having my chemotherapy, my white blood cells tanked every time, causing me to have to have extra neupogen injections. my immune system is not back to my "normal" as yet, so i am concerned about any drug that would adversely affect it.
so back to the "devil i know" as they say. taking an aromatase inhibitor ( a drug that decreases the estrogen in the body) is crucial to preventing a breast cancer recurrence. in my case, i will just stay on the anastrozole, and hope that either i find better ways of coping with the pain, or i am one of the lucky ones who ( for some reason) stops having this side effect.
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